Boris cruises through first Tory leadership ballot

Boris Johnson cruised to a convincing 114 votes in the first round of the Tory leadership race today. Despite already being the clear favourite before the vote, the manner of his initial victory will alarm those seeking to avoid a potentially volatile premiership and a no deal Brexit. The threshold of 17 votes wasn't reached by three hopefuls - Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper and Esther McVey. The next round of voting will take place on Tuesday 18 June - when the bar will be raised to 33 votes - before Conservative party members vote on the final two candidates in July.